Mayor Karen Bass put her desire to be reelected ahead of the truth when it came to the failures leading up to the Palisades fire — scorching former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley in her alleged path of lies — according to a new defamation lawsuit brought against Bass by Crowley.

Crowley served as Fire Chief in Los Angeles from March 2022 to February 2025, and was in charge during the devastating fires in January 2025.

Crowley repeatedly warned Bass and LA’s City Council of the fire department’s staffing and resource shortages — submitting detailed reports and budget requests, according to the lawsuit obtained by The California Post.

When the Palisades Fire happened and Bass left town, she did not tell key city personnel, including Crowley, the lawsuit said.

After the devastation of the fires was truly realized, with billions of dollars in damages and 12 dead, Bass then shifted blame elsewhere, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says, “[Bass] sought to avoid accountability by shifting blame and lying — including by falsely claiming that she was not aware of the nationally anticipated weather event.”

It also accuses Bass of “falsely claiming that the LAFD’s budget was not cut, falsely claiming that LAFD’s resources would have supported an additional 1,000 firefighters to fight the blaze, and falsely claiming LAFD’s operational fire engines were not used on January 7, 2025 — claims contradicted by public records and Bass’ own prior statements and/or conduct.”

After announcing her bid for reelection, Bass continued to make the false statements, according to the lawsuit. “These were not mistakes but instead were and continue to be a deliberate strategy to mislead the public and divert criticism of Bass’ decisions, in her bid to win the election.”

The lawsuit details a LAFD budget battle between Bass and Crowley that ultimately saw an alleged reduction in LAFD’s operating budget for 2024-’25 by $17.6 million and eliminating 61 positions.

Crowley also claimed to have a meeting with Bass in her office to discuss ongoing problems with the LAFD’s emergency ambulances, fire engines, and fire trucks in August 2024, according to the lawsuit.

Bass also allegedly knew about dangerous winds in Los Angeles when she decided to leave the country for Ghana before the Palisades Fire — a trip she didn’t tell Crowley was happening, the lawsuit said.

“Bass chose to conceal that she would be out of the country from Crowley, and others, while knowing of an impending dangerous weather event in the City,” the lawsuit said.

Crowley pre-deployed 24 engines, 3 battalion command teams, 5 brush patrols, 2 water tenders, additional staffing — including dispatchers and air operations personnel — in preparing for the Palisades Fire, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also outlined praise she received from Bass in the handling and preparation for the fires in the lawsuit.

When pressed by reporters on January 9, 2025 after the Palisades Fire about the alleged $17 million LAFD budget cut Bass replied, “there were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we are dealing with over the past couple of days,” the lawsuit said.

“Crowley realized that Bass’ attempts to mislead the public and to cover up the LAFD’s dire financial situation would potentially interfere with the City’s legal obligations to its people and to firefighters and were a disservice to Angelenos,” the documents said.

A continuous back and forth continued to unfold between Crowley and Bass over the coming weeks, including instances when Bass allegedly called into question Crowley’s decision making surrounding the fire after Crowley had publicly criticized Bass.

Crowley was dismissed from her position as LAFD Chief on February 21, 2025 when she was handed a note that said, “Unfortunately, you have exercised management incompatible with what is required of leaders of City departments. One example is the decision to send 1,000 firefighters home instead of keeping them on duty the morning that the fires broke out,” according to the lawsuit.

“At no time during, before, or after the meeting did Bass ask Crowley about her or LAFD’s deployment decisions, or whether the LAFD could have safely or effectively pre-deployed 1,000 additional firefighters on January 7 (it could not)” Crowley said in the lawsuit.

Bass then continued to spread lies, according to the lawsuit — including a false statement that Crowley refused to conduct and after-action fire report, refusing to admit the budget was cut, blaming Crowley for not pre-deploying more fire fighters and blaming Crowley for not personally calling Bass to discuss the dangerous weather conditions.

Crowley sued for defamation and is demanding a jury trial.

“This is another meritless lawsuit from a disgruntled individual who was removed from her position,” a Bass spokesperson told The Post.

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